Blood of the Witch is book two in Tommy Donbavand's Scream Street series. Luke Watson, our young werewolf protagonist, and his parents are having dinner with their new next-door neighbors, a vampire family: Alston, Bella, and their son, Resus Negative. (Yes, most of the characters' names are puns.) The dinner doesn't go where because Mr. & Mrs. Watson are terrified. Aside from their most unpleasant landlord, Sir Otto Sneer, and a person who is passing for a supernatural creature, Luke's parents are the only humans known (so far) to live on Scream Street. Even Sir Otto's dim-witted nephew Dixon is a shape-shifter. If Luke can only obtain six relics donated by the founding fathers of Scream Street, he'll be able to take his parents back to the real world.

Scream Street vampires are kept supplied with blood from a special faucet in their kitchens. Suddenly, the supply is cut off. Luke, Resus, and their friend, Cleo Farr the mummy, are trying to get the blood running again in a good way while also searching for the second relic.

It's a given that Sir Otto and Dixon are Up to No Good, but an unintended side effect of Sir Otto's latest evil scheme will come to involve almost every resident of Scream Street, including the sewer rats. (Good thing it seems to have skipped the cleaning spiders. Just the thought of them being affected caused my tongue to stick out in revulsion.)

Notes:

Chapter 3: This is the first time Luke has seen Dixon shifting shape up close.

Chapter 5: Twinkle is introduced and described here.

Chapter 6:

a. Nelly Twist is introduced and described here.

b. We get Shan the black cat's origin story. How many lives he has now is mentioned.

This book's chase scenes are exciting and the attempt to retrieve the second relic very dangerous. As for the return dinner at the Watsons' house, I'm with Mr. Negative!

The illustrations by Lily Bernard are creepy and fun at the same time.

Cat fans should enjoy a black kitty named Shan.
Rat fans have even more to enjoy. ( )

The first 3 books in the Scream Street series introduce us to the main characters Luke Watson (werewolf), Resus Negative (vampire) and Chloe Farr (mummy tomboy). Luke was a normal boy growing up with his parents when one day his whole family are transported into Scream Street by the mysterious Government Housing of Unusual Lifeforms (G.H.O.U.L.) movers. There Luke makes friends reluctantly while trying to find a way to go back home. He begins to settle in, but his human parents are having a very difficult time getting used to the strange characters and their supernatural abilities.

Luke and his two friends set out on a quest to regain all the original artefacts of the towns founders. In the first book they much find a fang of the original vampire, the second a vial of the witches blood and in the third the heart of the mummy who founded the town. They are guided by an author who trapped himself in his own book and are chased at every step in their journey by evil landlord Otto Sneer.

These are a fun read and can be enjoyed by older readers too. The illustrations are great and it have just the right amount of bite in them. It looks like another great children's Liverpool (go scousers!) writer is on the scene. ( )